| POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (September 6, 2026) – Every winning streak eventually ends, and for Matthew Brabham and his #16 GYM SODA Ford Mustang his four-race run in the Trans Am by Pirelli came to a halt Saturday at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park. In an exciting race-long duel with defending race winner and series champion Paul Menard that was decided by the luck of lapped traffic, series point-leader Brabham finished second by less than a half second. Brabham’s teammate, Chris Dyson filled out the podium in the #20 GYM SODA / RACER Ford Mustang. Brabham kept his now 10-race pole-winning record intact and led the first quarter of the 100-mile sprint handily until he got balked by lapped traffic, which permitted second-place Paul Menard to slip through into the lead. “I knew traffic might be critical today,” Brabham said following the race, noting that for this event the TA2 cars would be part of the field, along with GT entries. “Those guys race hard and they are going for their own championship. But they’re enough slower than our TA cars that we come up on them pretty quickly. Even though they are usually good about keeping their line and letting us figure out how to get by, sometimes by trying to get out of the way, they get in the way. That happened today. I got stuck and that gave Paul the opening he needed.” The battle stayed close but clean all the way to the checkered flag, with Brabham never more than a second off Menard’s bumper. While challenging Menard for the lead near the end of the race, Brabham got caught in traffic again, costing him two seconds. Clawing his way back to Menard, Brabham set the fastest lap of the race by a full half second. “We just ran out of laps and luck,” Brabham said. “I congratulate Paul and his team. They’ve worked hard and now the clear performance advantage we had earlier in the season is basically evened out. He drove an excellent race today; no mistakes. The last two races should be really good.” “All of us on the team are disappointed we didn’t win,” Dyson said. “But it wasn’t from lack of preparation or effort. Matt and everyone on the team did a great job. This is a demanding place and it is one of our favorites. We were just a bit unlucky and came up short today. Both of us on the podium is still a good result. And with points both for the pole and laps led in the race, Matt only lost four points from the 50-point lead he had.” Next: Virginia International Raceway As the 2026 season enters its final phase, the team looks forward to the penultimate round in two weeks at Virginia International Raceway. CD Racing has a strong record at the challenging southern Virgina circuit. Dyson and Brabham are both Trans Am race winners. Dyson won twice; 2021 from pole and 2025, when he started sixth. Brabham took the winner’s laurels in 2022, coming from last on the grid. Click here for more on Chris Dyson Racing. |
